Anasys Instruments and Prof. Lynne Taylor of Purdue propose to develop nanoscale chemical characterization capabilities for drug formulation research. This project will build on successful Phase I research demonstrating feasibility of atomic force microscope-based infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) in pharmaceutical applications. This Phase II research will advance techniques for efficiently determining morphological and chemical properties of nanostructured drug formulations, leading to improvements in drug solubility. This project will overcome key limitations of existing characterization tools, includin the limitations of current AFM-IR technology. The proposed research will provide a critical new characterization tool for pharmaceutical research, will enable a large commercial and research market, and is expected to have significant downstream impacts on improving drug solubility and efficacy.